Stories
ECI-SIR Row: Supreme Court to Hear Disagreement Dispute, Petition Demands Prosecution of Gyanesh Kumar
- •The ECI-SIR Row, a political uproar over disagreements within the Election Commission (ECI), has reached the Supreme Court.
- •A petition has been filed demanding criminal prosecution against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar for alleged violations of legal duties related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
- •Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi filed the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, seeking to declare decisions made by Gyanesh Kumar without the consent of the other two election commissioners as unconstitutional.
- •The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on at least 14 occasions to decisions related to SIR.
- •The petition demands prosecution against Gyanesh Kumar and other officials under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and seeks to annul all decisions made without majority consent.
Key Questions Answered
Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi filed a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution demanding criminal prosecution against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for alleged statutory duty violations during the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. The petition also asks the Supreme Court to annul decisions, guidelines, and software changes made without the consent of the other two election commissioners.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly objected on at least 14 occasions to decisions and orders regarding the Special Intensive Revision. Their objections concerned matters like changes to Form 6 and the management of voter list data, which were allegedly executed without their knowledge or against their recommendations.
The petition cites Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to demand prosecution for alleged dereliction of official duties related to voter lists against Gyanesh Kumar and other officials. Additionally, it invokes Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, to request the annulment of decisions made without majority consensus.
